COMMUNICATION SNAPSHOTS June 2018

How powerful are Social Bots? Understanding the types, purposes and impacts of bots in

 Social bots is a much - discussed buzzword . Yet people don’t always have a clear understanding of its meaning and its potential impact . This issue of Communication Snapshot will try to shed light on social bots, how they work and how they can be identified .  BOTS (short for software robots) have been around since the early days of computers . They are algorithms that simulate human behavior . With the rise of social media they have gained in importance – and have not only been utilized for good, but also for manipulating perceptions .  Research into the impact of social bots is increasing, however the impact of social bots, especially on corporate social media channels, remains unknown . A research project by the Academic Society currently underway seeks to change that .

What are social bots ? How do they operate ?

A social bot is a computer program based on algorithms that For social bots to be applied to a certain (social media) channel, automatically produces content and interacts with humans on the platform has to be accessible through an Application social media . They are highly effective in convincing users that Programming Interface (API), as offered e . g . by and they are actually humans . The term “social” refers to the . By using APIs, a large number of bot accounts can be imitation of human behavior and the act of pretending to be a controlled simultaneously with little effort . human with whom social interaction is possible, and not to With simple keyword searches they “social” media . scan Twitter timelines and Facebook .Looking at bots as a whole, a posts for certain terms or hashtags . general distinction can be made As soon as they find what they are between bots that mimic human looking for, they comment, share behavior (social bots) and those links or start a fictive discussion . Or that do not (classical bots, e . g . they comment directly on specific automatic news feeds) . topics . In combination with other bots (forming a botnet) their noise Classifying social bots, one can becomes even louder and can differentiate two types : mislead other users .  Benign bots aggregate con - tent , respond automatically, and How do social bots perform other useful services . These bots automatically dis - exert influence ? seminate information or news There are three main strategies bots (e . g . weather bots, sport bots, use to try to influence public traffic bots etc . ) . Another type discussions on social media : of bots are chat bots used by enterprises to respond to queries automatically . 1 . Smoke screening uses context - related hashtags on Twitter to distract the readers from the main point of the debate (e . g .  Malicious bots, in contrast, are designed with the purpose using the hashtag #Brexit, but talking about something to harm . They operate on social media with a fake identity . unrelated to the vote) Malicious bots include spam, the theft of and 2 . Misdirecting goes a step further by using context - related identities, the spreading of and noise during hashtags without referring to the topic at all (e . g . using # brexit debates, the infiltration of companies and the diffusion of but talking about something which is not related to GB) malware . 3 . tries to influence public opinion e . g . in a In contrast to social bots, a troll is often a real person who political debate by creating the impression that a vast majority provokes, disrupts and insults . Trolls for example can capture is in favour of a certain position . Political campaigns are hashtags to make discussions in social networks difficult or therefore disguised as spontaneous ‘grassroots’ behavior impossible . Sometimes trolls use social bots for their www. academic - society.net although in reality they are carried out by a single person or purposes . organisationKaren Berger,. berger@akademische - gesellschaft.com  » It is crucial that companies build up knowledge about social bots and learn how it might impact their business environment . « Professor Dr. Stefan Stieglitz, University of Duisburg - Essen

How can you spot a social bot? bots is not illegal, other human users are deceived . As a consequence, social networks are undertaking major efforts to Studies estimate that between 9 - 15 % of traffic on Twitter and fight social bot accounts on their platforms . as much as 66 % of shared URLs are generated by bots . So if encountering one is likely, how can you spot a social bot? As they become more and more sophisticated and constantly What effects do social bots have ? advance their cover - up techniques, they are difficult to detect . Social bots can have a considerable impact on society, However, there are certain characteristics that indicate a bot : democracy or the economy . The number of scientific studies on Bursts of activity and periods of silence are untypical social bots is increasing . However, research is still in its early for humans and indicate bot accounts . stages . Here are some effects that already have been investigated : Their profile pictures oftentimes feature graphical  Impact on democracy : Social bots have been used in pictures instead of real user pictures . elections to spread and to polarize the political Skewed friend/follower - ratio : As it is way easier to discussion by giving the false impression that certain follow a user than get another user to follow back, bot information, regardless of its accuracy, is highly popular . accounts often follow far more people than follow the  Impact on stock markets : In the past social bots have bot accounts . influenced stock prices . Investment decisions are Unrealistically high number of tweets per day : The increasingly being made by automatic trading systems that number of messages a human user can release is far promptly react to news on social media channels . lower than the number some bot accounts produce .  Impact on economy : Bots have the potential to harm the Unrealistically high reaction speed : An account reputation of a company or its products and lead to replies in a split second when it is addressed . considerable financial damage . Quality of comments : Bot accounts usually have  Cybercrime : Other studies have demonstrated how bots have limited vocabulary and may produce inadequate or gained access to private information, such as phone numbers imprecise responses . and addresses that in turn could be used for cybercrime . Many bot accounts give likes so that the liked account  Distorted popularity : First analyses of SoundCloud , the follows back, resulting in an unusual high number of largest social media platform for sharing music, indicate that given likes compared to human accounts . bots are used to promote certain songs, thus influencing their popularity and leading to a wider distribution . Are social bots illegal? About the research project In the eyes of today’s jurisdiction social bots still do not exist and are therefore not seen as illegal . In general, spreading In 2018 the Academic Society launched the research project messages are considered as with the “Social Bots in Corporate Communications” . Professor Stefan limitations of publishing illegal content such as defamatory Stieglitz and Florian Brachten (University of Duisburg - Essen, statements, insults, threats or copyright infringements . ) are researching the extent to which social bots However, there have been first cases in the area of online influence corporate social media accounts . It’s the first time gaming where social bots have been ruled illegal . that the impact of social bots on DAX 30 companies will be analyzed . Results are expected in the spring of 2019 . Given the difficulties to prosecute social bot creators, the ethical perspective becomes crucial . Even if the use of social More information : www . academic - society . net bots